20v Turbo Manifold Build

[olsonjus]

I'm starting to build 20v turbo headers and this is will document the buildup process. I will be offering these manifolds for sale as I finish them. I wont be selling manifolds until they are boxed and ready to ship. If you would like a custom manifold with specific turbine and wastegate flanges, the header must be payed for in full before work will begin.

This first manifold will be a garrett t3 turbine side with a tial 38mm wastegate flange.

The manifold following this unit, will be a t4 flange with a audi wastegate flange.

At this point I have cut the collector and practiced tig welding on stainless piping that will be used in the manifold build:

Started working with stainless steel 1.5" schedule 40 piping for turbo manifolds. Here is a test piece I was working on tonight.










I still have to tack the collector together and cut the end straight so I can mate it up to the turbine flange.

Here are the pics until I mock up the manifold this tonight:

[volcano rs]

how did you manage to cut them so neat ?

[olsonjus]

I drew them up in 3D cad and had them CNC machined.

Regards,
Justin

[volcano rs]

no wonder what grade stainless are you using?

[olsonjus]

This is 304/304L stainless.

Regards,
Justin

[volcano rs]

is this grade ok for manifolds ? i know some of the grades crack easily.

[olsonjus]

There are no problems using this in turbo manifolds.

Most of the cracking and warping issues you will see in other manifolds is caused by poorly penetrating welds that aren't backpurged.

Regards,
Justin

[volcano rs]

backpurge ? you mean gas filled from inside while you are welding ? so the grade dosen't effect it ?

[olsonjus]

Yes, backpurging means to fill the inside of the tube with inert gas. This keeps the backside of the weld from getting contamintated and being a week point where a crack may start to form.

Grade 304/304L stainless steel is used in tons of aftermarket turbo manifolds. It is a good grade to use. Some header builders use 321 Stainless Steel in thin walled turbo headers for race cars. 321 is very similar to 304. The main difference is 321 ss contains 0.50% titanium.

Regards,
Justin

[Faheemo]

Looks Gr8 so far ..
I'm gonna start filling my piggy bank tonite for this beauty.

Those chinese manifolds just dont cut it anymore !!

[Chris M]

look forward to seeing the finished product Looks neat

Cheers,
Chris

[Tommy200rs]

Could you take a picture of the collector from other side.
Is the collector subcontracted or do you make it by yourself ?
If done by you, did you cad design and laser cut the collector parts ?

Do you have any estimate of the price of finished product.
How is your welding jig looking like (a picture)?

Is the planned piping at collector so that coming and following ignition cycles /pulses go 360 degrees clockwise / anticlockwise round in the coming collector pipes. (difficult to explain but mean the pulse rotaion cycle).

How thin is the wall (mm) in the pipe you use ?. What is the internal diameter in the pipe you use ?

Nice looking pictures and lets se the finished one.

[Billman]

What steel is Inconel?

[FRED]

What steel is Inconel?

Inconel 625 = Nickel-Chromium Alloy. Used a lot in marine and chemical enviroment. Used as a weld overlay. Good corrosion resistance. Not too bad to machine but quite a bit tougher than other grades of stainless steel.

Inconel 718 = Nickel based supper alloy. Hard as nails and very evpensive. Used a lot in high pressure and corrosive conditions i.e. downhole in the oil and gas industry. No fun at all to machine.

I'm lucky enough to see them quite often as most of what we manufacture goes to to the oil industry.

Seem to remember that the McLaren F1 used inconel in the exhaust system, and it also formed part of the crash structure at the rear of the car at the same time.
Like I said, hard as nails.

[Billman]

Lehman builds the Exhaust manifolds for the I5 with Inconel.